Ace Combat Zero: Liberation
by NotTheDuckYou'reLookingFor
Summary: In 1995, the Principality of Belka invades it's peaceful neighbour, Ustio. Hopelessly outgunned and quickly overrun, Ustio's last hope is their mercenary air force. An unlikely hero and his wingman soar into the skies to meet the mighty Belkan Air Force, the fate of an entire nation resting on their shoulders. When freedom is at stake, survival is not enough.
1. Glacial Skies

25th NOVEMBER 2005 – NEAR A DISPUTED BORDER

_"Oh him? Yeah, I know him." The man said softly, but easily heard above the faint noises of gunfire and shouting in the background just several blocks away. "It's going to take a while; it happened years ago."_

_The single stool the interviewee sat on was the only piece of furniture in the battered, war-torn living room of the two bedroomed house the Osean Broadcasting Company's reporter, Brett Thompson and the man sat in. Bullet and shrapnel holes were in too great a number to count, the fighting here had been heavy. The conflict between the rebels and the army for control of the town was all over the news, but that wasn't why Thompson was here._

_"Did you know, there are three kinds of aces?" The man asked the Thompson, hidden from view behind the camera. He raised three fingers on his left hand one by one as he spoke, his right balancing his AK-47 assault rifle on his knee. "Those who seek strength, those who live for pride and those who can read the tide of battle. And him?" The man sighed and shook his head slightly, smiling to himself as he chewed on gum. "He was a true ace."_

_"He was a fighter pilot they called 'Solo Wing Pixy.' He was a colleague of the man I seek." Thompson introduced the well-known man, and his motive for following him into a battlefield. "Ten years ago, there was a war that engulfed the world. The Belkan War. And in that war was a pilot who trailed across the sky and disappeared from history."_

_The screen changed. Now, an old black and white photograph was the centre of attention taken from the cockpit of a fighter aircraft only an experienced pilot of said plane would be able to identify. The focus of the shot was on two other aircraft nearby, banking away in unison with sharp white contrails drawing graceful parabolas in the grey sky. "He was a lone mercenary who inspired both fear and admiration." Thompson continued. "He is the man I seek. And so, with the words of 'Solo Wing', the curtain rises."_

_The camera switched back to the fighter pilot who began his tale with the simplest of lines. "It was a cold and snowy day…"_

2nd APRIL 1995 – VALAIS AIRBASE - USTIO

It was a late Sunday morning when Cipher touched his McDonnell Douglas F-15C Eagle down on the single long runway at Valais Airbase, an Ustio Air Force base located in the icy mountains to the south of the conflicted country. The mercenary taxied his fighter to two small alert hangers under orders of the Air Traffic Controller and eventually by the ground crew and powered down his twin Pratt & Whitney F100 engines, parking outside facing the taxiway to the runway. As he climbed out of his cockpit and did his post-flight checks, he watched a second Eagle, silver with its starboard wing painted bright red, also land with a screech of tyres and eventually begin to taxi to the same hanger he was parked outside, vacating the runway via the central taxiway.

"You must be Solo Wing Pixy." He commented as the pilot, clad in a grey flight suit and a red helmet, climbed out of the cockpit.

"How'd you guess?" The pilot smiled at Cipher, his voice cool. He was in his late twenties, with amber eyes and messy brown hair, well known for losing his right wing in combat and yet still managing to return to his base. "I'm guessing you're here for the same reasons as I?"

"That depends if you're here for the excitement or the money." Cipher grinned in reply.

"Is it too bad to pick both?"

"Then I guess we're both here for the same reason. I hear the Belkans are some decent pilots, that'll about cover the excitement I think."

"True, they say that we Belkans are some of the best pilots." The pilot smiled and extended a polite hand, gloved against the chill in a white leather glove, towards him. "Second Lieutenant Larry Foulke."

Cipher shook Foulke's hand, immediately suspicious of the Belkan mercenary. Why was he fighting against his home country? It didn't make any sense, and he was instantly questioning his motives. "You can call me Cipher."

"Just Cipher?" Foulke looked confused, probably expecting a rank and a 'proper' name of some sort.

"Just Cipher." He answered. Cipher was his mercenary name. He'd used it ever since his first missions as a mercenary fighter pilot, and his real name was only reserved for those he deemed worthy of knowing it.

"I've heard stories about you. They say you've got what it takes to win!" Foulke grinned.

"I didn't realise I was that famous." Cipher smiled.

"You're not. I just had some friends in Yuktobania." The Belkan clapped the smaller man on the shoulder as a gesture of goodwill.

An Ustio airman threw open a door to a small hut nearby and urgently called them into the briefing room. Cipher and Foulke were the last to arrive; the room was already occupied by eight surviving Ustio pilots clad in maroon flight suits, and an older officer, a Lieutenant General acting as the intelligence officer for the base.

"Cipher, Pixy." He announced as they entered in a loud and deep voice, one that demanded attention. "You must be the two mercenaries, welcome to the 6th Air Division."

The two pilots took a seat at the back as the lights dimmed and a large orange map of the area was projected on the wall, the dimming of the lights suppressing the quiet murmuring of the Ustio Air Force pilots. Ustio was central on the map. Belka lay to the north, and Sapin bordered Ustio to the west. East Osea was visible on Sapin and Belka's western edges, and other eastern countries were just on the edge of the screen, countries which Cipher had not bothered to learn the names of.

"Okay, listen up! We have a situation on our hands." The map zoomed in on the area of Valais Airbase to the south of Ustio, and the icy mountains surrounding it. "A major squadron of Belkan bombers has crossed our border and is making its way here, to Valais Air Base. Apparently, they intend to attack our base in an initiative to gain hegemony over the entire Republic of Ustio. Valais Air Base is our country's last line of defence. If our base falls, no one will be left to stop Belka from taking over Ustio. Your mission is to destroy the squad of bombers and defend our base."

The officer looked up from the lecture table, a light brown oak wooden structure with the base's insignia, a castle with two hawks circling it, and looked at all the pilots as he spoke the last word of his briefing. "Belka's invasion must end here."

Cipher and Foulke were on their feet and racing towards their planes before the officer had even finished the word "Dismissed". They saw Ustio technicians waiting for them, and with instructions from Cipher and Foulke, they rapidly armed their planes with six AIM-9 Sidewinder short range air-to-air missiles and four AIM-120 AMRAAM medium range air-to-air missiles onto ten of the Eagle's eleven hardpoints, leaving the central fuselage pylon free. Fuel tanks wouldn't be needed on such a short-range intercept mission.

Cipher rapidly carried out his checks and leapt into the cockpit of his fighter, flicking switches and checking gauges in the blink of an eye, faster than any Ustio pilot on the base could dream of doing. He pulled on his white helmet and dropped the black polarised visor, clipping the oxygen mask to his lower face. Seconds later, the massive heart of the Eagle roared to life, and he followed Foulke to the runway. "Tower, this is Cipher. Permission to take off runway one eight over." He asked.

"Roger Cipher, you cleared to take off as soon as Pixy is off the ground." The woman in the control tower replied in a calm voice despite the seriousness of the situation.

Cipher lined up with the white dashed line on the runway and pressed a button on his control panel. The HUD came to life, green light showing his attitude, airspeed and altitude. Also, if the target was close enough, a pipper for his 20mm Vulcan cannon. Ahead, he saw Foulke leave the ground, and slowly increased the throttle to maximum. The fighter roared and buckled against the brake, and Cipher released it, pushed back in his seat by the sudden acceleration. He watched his airspeed rise rapidly from 0 to 60 knots in a few seconds, then carrying on past 100 and 150. At 200, later than he would normally leave it, he pulled back on the stick and his Eagle jumped off the tarmac and into the air.

"Cipher has vacated runway, turning to loiter at angels five one mile northeast of the runway." He informed as he raised his landing gear, waiting until he heard the reassuring sound of the lock securing them in the raised position before banking off to the right. Checking his fuel gauge, he noted that the ground crew hadn't had time to refuel his aircraft but he easily had enough fuel for the mission.

The two mercenaries circled in formation with Cipher leading, waiting for the next two flights of F-20A Tigersharks to take off. He listened in on their comms, mentally noting their squadron and callsigns in case he needed them. Once the group were airborne, they headed to the intercept location. Cipher and Foulke flew together whilst the eight members from Fenrir squadron flew in four flights of two arranged in a line-abreast formation. Chatter was minimal, all of the pilots feeling like this was a suicide mission. No one went head to head with the Belkan Air Force and won.

"It's starting to come down." Foulke commented on the increase in the snowfall.

"This is Base Command, guess all you boys managed to get up." The ATC back at Valais Airbase reported.

Cipher clicked the mike to show he understood.

Cipher, Pixy, you are now members of the Galm Team." Base Command informed. "Galm One, Galm Two, maintain present course." Base Command ordered.

"This is Galm Two, roger that." Foulke replied while assigning himself as the role of Cipher's wingman. He dropped back onto Cipher's port wing.

"Bearing 315, Belkan bombers approaching." The Base Command told them.

"No-one wants to bail out into a mountain of ice." Foulke said. "We're counting on you, flight leader."

Cipher clicked the mike again, accepting the role of the flight lead.

"All planes, prepare to intercept."

"I expect our pay ready and waiting." Foulke warned the commander as the newly formed Galm Team turned onto the vector.

"That's only if we both make it through this alive." He replied.

"Be ready to pay up, we'll be back before you know it." Cipher replied.

"Galm Two, follow all orders from Galm One. Unauthorised engagement is strictly prohibited during this combat." Base Command informed Foulke.

"Galm Two roger." Foulke formed up off his left wing. "Cipher, you're Galm One now." He reminded Cipher of his responsibilities. Like he needed to be reminded.

"The quicker we bag these suckers, the quicker we can get home and get us a little hot whiskey!" One pilot said.

Cipher increased his throttle and turned towards the battle zone. "Galm Team, engage." He ordered over the comlink as he attached the oxygen mask on his helmet and banked towards the Belkan bomber squadron.

Foulke pulled away and also increased his throttle. "Galm Two roger, engaging bombers."

Cipher engaged his afterburners, pumping fuel straight into the engine outlet. The g's pushed him back into the seat as the fighter accelerated, breaking the sound barrier with a bang and a slight jolt. Foulke followed his lead. The bombers and their escorts soon came up on his HUD, surrounded by green squares. He saw that Fenrir Squadron had already engaged the fighters.

"Fenrir Seven, Fox Two!" Cipher saw a white trail of smoke shoot from one of the blue-squared Ustio fighters towards a Belkan fighter, the latter exploding into flames. "Fenrir Seven, I've bagged a bandit." The fighter pilot reported.

"Galm One, engaging the bombers." Cipher climbed to the same altitude as the B-52H bombers approaching head-on and armed his medium range missiles. The green squares around the bombers turned to red diamonds as the AMRAAMs locked onto both targets. "Fox Three, Fox Three!"

Two missiles dropped from his fuselage and ignited their rocket engines, homing in on their targets. The bombers had no way of evading the missiles and they hit, exploding and sending fragments of burning metal hurtling towards the ground. Cipher flew past the two stricken planes and carried on towards the main formation.

"One enemy bomber down, continue with operation." Base Command informed.

"Galm Two to Galm One, one of the bombers is still flying!" Foulke exclaimed as he passed through the formation, following his flight lead.

Sure enough, one bomber struggled onwards, trailing fire and smoke from a wound in its side. Cipher pulled an Immelmann, reversing his heading and shedding off excess speed to engage his prey again. His g counter came to life, the annoying female voice stating "Over-g, over-g," but Cipher ignored it, gritting his teeth and pulling through it until he was level and behind the bomber. This time, he switched to his gun and pulled the trigger. The 20mm revolver cannon came to life and made quick work of the bomber's left wing. Unstable, it rolled and pummelled to the ground.

"Galm One, splash another."

"Second enemy bomber down." Base command said. "Stay sharp out there."

Foulke formed up on his wing again as the two air-superiority fighters sped towards the main formation. Cipher saw seven green squares appear on his HUD.

"Galm Two cleared to engage using AMRAAMs." He cleared his wingman for the use of the multi-target missiles.

"Roger that, XMAA firing sequence initiated." Foulke pulled ahead slightly. "Galm Two, Fox Three, Fox Three." All four missiles dropped from the Eagle's fuselage. They spread out and hit four enemy aircraft, each bursting into flames and debris. "What did I hit?" Foulke asked as he pulled away to avoid colliding with bits of aircraft.

"Galm Two, three bombers and one fighter down. Good shot!" Fenrir One answered the mercenary.

"C'mon Pixy, save a few for us will ya?" Fenrir Six joked.

"This is Otto Five, IFF is malfunctioning. I'm unable to carry out the operation." A Belkan bomber pilot informed his colleagues in a calm voice. Cipher listened on their intercepted communications. "I'm withdrawing from operation airspace."

"One of the bombers is leaving the battlefront." Base Command informed.

"Guess they got scared, why bother flying out this far then bug out?" Foulke muttered.

"He must of chickened out." Fenrir One joked.

Cipher engaged a grey F-4E Phantom II. The larger, heavier fighter couldn't match Cipher's manoeuvrability and struggled to shake him off. Cipher used his guns and tore the Phantom's left intake to shreds.

"I'm damaged! Disengaging." The Belkan pilot pulled away and headed in the same direction as the fleeing B-52M. Cipher's instincts screamed at him to let loose another volley of gunfire. His sudden anger towards the Belkans for invading a peaceful nation caused him to follow his instincts. The Phantom spiralled out of control.

"Damn mercenaries! Only you would be so cowardly to shoot down a plane that's out of commission!" The Belkan pilot cried out before he ejected.

Cipher fired a missile at an oncoming F-5 Tiger attempting to take him head on, which failed and the fighter exploded. "Splash another fighter." He confirmed the kill.

He saw the large B-52H pulling a sharp right turn. He latched onto its tail and destroyed the engines on the left wing whilst jinking to avoid incoming fire from the tail turret. The aircraft began to yaw right as the excess power on the starboard wing threatened to flip the airplane. In the end, it stalled and Cipher watched his prey tumble to the mountains below.

"Fenrir Four, I'm hit!" A Tigershark, smoke pouring from its engine outlet, pulled away from a bomber. "Returning to base!"

"There won't be a base if we don't stop these bombers!" Foulke exclaimed.

"There are four bombers left. Fenrir Squadron, you deal with them, Galm Two and I will deal with the fighters!" Locking onto the two bombers closest to him, Cipher fired his last two AMRAAM missiles and shot them both down.

"Two more bombers down." He reported, looking for his wingman in the battle between the Belkan fighters and Fenrir Squadron. Foulke sped past him and dived onto the tail of an attacking fighter, quickly shooting it down with a sidewinder which blew it to pieces, the shrapnel falling to the mountains below with the snow.

"Thanks for the assist Galm Two." The F-20A pilot turned towards the bomber formation. The other five surviving members of the squadron also disengaged as Cipher joined the dogfight.

"Looks like Galm Two's gonna steal the show again." Fenrir Eight muttered.

Cipher and Foulke took on the four Belkan F-4E Phantoms with ease. Together, they flew rings around the heavier fighters, the latter aircraft unable to get into an optimal position to launch a missile. When they did, Cipher or Foulke were quickly on the tail of the attacker, resulting in the attack being thwarted and heavy cursing over the Belkan radio channel. The two mercenary aces quickly shot down three of their number using a mixture of guns and missiles.

The last Phantom attempted to get away by executing a Split-S and engaging his afterburners. Cipher was in no mood to be merciful. He riddled the fuselage with bullet holes and ripped the wing from the body, causing the machine to tumble out of control.

"Base Command, we've mopped up the escort planes. Continuing on to enemy bombers." Foulke reported.

"Roger, we're counting on you!"

"Holy shit...I can't believe we're actually doing this!" One of the Ustio veteran pilots muttered.

"Galm Two form up and let's finish this." Cipher ordered. Foulke complied.

His missile warning system came to life, turning his HUD red and emitting a high beeping noise. Instinctively, he turned hard to his right and popped flares, gritting his teeth again against the sudden g's. "Jeeeeeeeeez," He gasped as the g-counter barked at him again. "Where'd he come from?"

The system turned off as two missiles harmlessly exploded elsewhere. The ace flew an F-5E painted literally like a tiger, Cipher catching a quick glimpse of it as it screamed past with full afterburner.

"Galm Two, he's on your six!" Cipher warned as it rolled into Foulke's blind spot.

"Jesus Christ..." Foulke tried to shake the Belkan ace with a fancy display of turns and climbs. Cipher followed, trying to engage without blowing his wingman up instead. The F-5E fired another missile which missed, and Cipher saw his opening.

Foulke had rolled right, but rolled 270° and pulled left, confusing the ace. Cipher dived onto the fighter's tail and became the attacker. The ace knew he was beaten when Foulke came about and also engaged. He bailed out as Cipher's missile hit his outlets and destroyed the light fighter in one shot.

"Base Command to Galm Team, the enemy attack unit has been successfully intercepted." Base Command congratulated.

Cipher and Foulke formed up in their two-man formation, Foulke to Cipher's left and slightly below and behind. They passed Fenrir Squadron, the six remaining Tigersharks forming up in an improvised arrowhead formation.

"I'd like to see how those Belkan cowards report back to their superiors." Cipher could almost hear the cheering in the tower.

"Cipher; I have a feeling that you and me are going to get along just fine." Foulke said. "Buddy."

Cipher looked back over his wing and saw Foulke's red helmet in the cockpit of the Eagle. He had no doubt that he would. He settled back and followed Fenrir Squadron on the very short trip back to Valais Airbase.

"Galm Team, you have permission to land." Base Command said after the Ustio squadron had vacated the runway. The mercenaries landed in quick succession, Cipher on the left and Foulke on the right. After landing and conducting his post-flight checks, he entered the briefing room along with Foulke.

"Well done. Thanks to you, Belka's attack on Valais Air Base has failed. Your efforts will not go unrewarded. Your actions may well decide who wins the Belkan War. I, for one, will be counting on you." The Intelligence officer praised.

Cipher declined John Henderson's – Fenrir's flight lead – offer of drinks and headed to his room to unpack and shower, stripping out of the heavy flight suit and stepping under the steady stream of hot water which washed away the sweat and stiffness. He slipped into a pair of jeans and a plain blue shirt. He then donned a leather jacket given to him by his father, the son of a legendary ace in the first war between Belka and Osea in 1910. It had belonged to him when he flew the first biplane fighters, claiming almost 70 aircraft for six losses. A record that was difficult to beat for a regular pilot. But Cipher was out to challenge the feat. He had already claimed forty aircraft to two losses in air combat.

He went outside into the dying sunlight and light snow. He resisted the urge to shiver and head back inside, instead heading to his alert hanger where his blue-winged Eagle was parked next to Foulke's fighter.

The sound of a jet fighter caught his attention. He looked up and saw an F-16 Fighting Falcon landing on the long runway, its tires screeching as they accelerated from zero to a hundred miles an hour in an instant. He watched as two more dark grey Falcons landed and taxied to another set of alert hangers across the paddock from him. All three aircraft were painted exactly the same, with a white heart just behind the cockpit.

Cipher had an idea. He walked to his Eagle and used a ladder to climb up onto his wing, his favourite thinking space, and pulled a notepad and pencil from the inside pocket of his jacket. There, he began to draw, his artistic mind coming to life.

A cold wind whistled through the hanger. Shivering, Cipher climbed down from the wing and opened his canopy, settling into the heated cockpit and shutting it.

He started by writing the Air Division and Squadron number he was in. 6th Air Division, 66th Air Force Unit, Galm.

He smiled and began to carefully draw, his creation quickly coming to life on paper. Simple pencil marks became lines and curves, dots and points became hubs for many more lines. Time seemed to disappear as he was drawn into his creation.

Someone tapped on the canopy, startling him. He looked and saw Foulke peering in at him. "What are you doing in here?" He asked when Cipher had opened his cockpit.

"The right wing is usually my favourite thinking space, but it's cold up here in the mountains." Cipher answered. He gestured to his drawing. "What do you think?"

Foulke sat on the edge of the cockpit and studied Cipher's notepad, holding it up close to his face with a look of genuine surprise. "Did you draw this?"

"Yes. My father was an artist in his spare time, and I carried on the trend."

"Christ, so you're a pilot and an artist!" Foulke gave it back with a grin and a small shake of the head. "What's it for?"

"Our insignia." Cipher replied. "I saw three Falcons land and they all had the same insignia. Seeing as we're a team now, I guessed it would be good if we also had an insignia."

"What made you think of the Hellhound?" Foulke asked. Cipher had drawn a red dog with angry yellow eyes tearing at its chain. It had a black background and an orange circular border.

"Think about it. 6th Air Division, 66th Air Force Unit…" He said.

"No joy. I don't get it." Foulke gave up after thinking about it for a few seconds.

"666. The number of the beast." Cipher said.

"Oh yeah!" Foulke grinned. "I never guessed. By the way, Crow Team landed a few hours ago, more mercenaries. The Fenrir Squadron challenged us to a game of indoor football, mercenaries versus Air Force. You wanna come?"

Cipher thought about it. "No, thanks. I'm okay here."

Foulke shrugged. "Suit yourself. See you in a bit Buddy." He jumped from the cockpit and jogged back to the main compound.

Cipher watched him go and closed the canopy, settling back into the seat. He stared through the transparent, powered-down HUD and the events of the day overtook him as he gave in to heavy eyes and soon slipped into a deep sleep.

_"It was a cold and snowy day." Solo Wing said. "And I thought to myself…He had potential."_


	2. Annex

"Cipher…yo buddy wake up! Cipher?"

Cipher groaned and sat up. He went to stretch and accidentally punched the acrylic canopy of his fighter. He winced and opened the cockpit and saw Foulke standing in his flight suit.

"Yeah?" he murmured sleepily.

"It's half seven in the morning buddy, you better get ready sharpish. Commander wants us in the briefing room at quarter to." Foulke said, suppressing a laugh as Cipher jolted upright and leapt out the canopy on the side without a ladder.

Cipher sprinted into his room at breakneck speed. He quickly changed into his flight suit, sprayed himself with some cheap deodorant supplied by the Air Force and ran back out of the accommodation block and towards the operation blocks. He arrived in the briefing room two minutes late.

"Ah, Cipher…" The intelligence officer grinned. "Are the beds here not good enough for your standards?" The room was filled with two Air Force squadrons and the two mercenary teams, and they all laughed and looked at him as he sat at the back, grinning.

"Y'know what they say, a good pilot lives and dies with his plane…" he replied, running a hand through his messy hair.

"Anyway." The room fell silent as the officer spoke. "There are no planned operations today, but I will be organising some patrol flights around the area, just in case the Belkans decide to do anything. Fenrir Squadron, you'll be up first so prepare your aircraft for air-to-air."

"Yes sir." Henderson replied.

"Everyone but Fenrir Squadron, you can go. I assume you have stuff you need to do. If not, feel free to help the NCO's around the base. Breakfast has already come and gone, but lunch and dinner times will be on the wall outside the mess."

Cipher's stomach growled as he left the room. He headed back to his room to pick up his wallet with the money he'd earned from the intercept mission, ¥800. He made his way to the airbase's shop to buy food. Breakfast sorted in the form of ready-made sandwiches, he went back to his hanger where Foulke was fixing a faulty landing light on his fighter.

"Not spending all your zollars already are you?" He asked as Cipher devoured the first sandwich and began on the second.

"Only when the mess is shut." He said as he retrieved his notebook from the cockpit of his Eagle. "Jeez that jump hurt!" he rubbed the back of his knees as Foulke laughed.

"Teach you to jump out of a plane's cockpit." Foulke said. He threw the wire cutters on the floor frustratingly. "Dammit why won't you work!" he shouted at the non-living object.

"Because…" Cipher finished his mouthful of ham and cheese sandwich before continuing. "You've not turned on your lights so it won't light up."

Foulke stood and stared at the light. "Buddy, I think you're right…" he said, surprised. "How did you know?"

"The other two on the rear landing gear are also off." Cipher gestured to Foulke's plane before something else caught his eye. "Hey, is that one of Crow Team's pilots?"

Outside the accommodation blocks, young man in his early twenties was standing with a smaller girl, the Air Traffic Controller. Cipher and Foulke watched as the two of them hugged and the pilot jogged over to the rest of his flight by their Falcons, who laughed and teased him.

"Little bugger works fast." Foulke muttered as he scaled the ladder to his cockpit. "Next thing you know, they'll be planning a marriage and having kids."

Cipher looked at his wingman and grinned. "Jealous, eh?"

He shrugged and went slightly red. "Possibly." The landing lights on his fighter turned on and Cipher was temporarily blinded. "Yes! We have light!" Foulke shouted out in victory. Cipher stumbled towards the briefing room with his drawing and found the Intelligence Officer speaking with the base commander.

"Sir." Cipher came to attention and acknowledged the ranking officer's presence.

"Relax, Captain." The commander ordered. He clearly didn't like the aspect of mercenary pilots on his base.

"Sir, I was wondering, seeing as I and Second Lieutenant Foulke are an official Team now, whether we could have a squadron insignia?" Cipher asked politely, resisting the urge to tell the commander what he thought of him.

The intelligence officer looked at the base commander. "I don't see why not."

"Yeah, whatever." The base commander said.

"Great." The Lieutenant General looked pleased at the idea. He gestured the Captain over to a bookshelf and pulled a book out. "This might give you some ideas; it's all the insignia's of famous squadrons around the world…"

"Actually sir, I've designed my own." He held out his notepad and the Lieutenant General took it and looked

"You…_drew _this?" He asked in awe.

"Yes sir, my dad was an artist in his spare time and he taught me." Cipher replied.

"Well, you know how to apply them?" The officer asked, handing the book back.

"Yes sir." Cipher took the book.

"Well, I'll make sure you have one of the later slots for the patrols." The officer said.

Cipher then spent the rest of the day applying the red and orange insignia to both tails of the two Eagles. Foulke offered to help, but quickly grew bored, resorting back to his previous job assisting the mechanics and Fenrir Four repair the latter pilot's damaged fighter. It didn't take long, and Cipher had finished by lunch. He sat with Crow Team and chatted about previous experiences with the other mercenary team.

"Yo buddy." Foulke joined him at the table as Cipher was recalling his first combat experience in Yuktobania flying MiG-21's. "How's the insignia going?"

"Not bad." The younger pilot replied, slightly annoyed by the interruption. "What's the Tigershark like?"

"Ah, bullet damage to the right intake and wing, Jack's lucky it actually stayed on." Foulke sighed. "He screwed up the landing, not his fault obviously, and bent one of the landing gear struts and completely destroyed the front gear meaning we'll have to replace it."

"Are you the guys who went up yesterday?" The older of the Crow Team's members, Crow One, asked.

"Yeah, we were scrambled to take down a Belkan bomber squadron." Foulke answered. "Cipher here managed to shoot down eight aircraft!"

The youngest member of Crow Team stared in awe. "Jeez, you're an ace!"

"A bit more than an ace I think." Cipher shrugged. "I gave up recording kills on my plane because I ran out of space."

The young pilot looked amazed. "How many?"

"Forty." Cipher laughed at the look on Crow Three's face.

"You're not actually gonna eat that, right?" Crow Team's leader asked as Cipher took a spoonful of the lumpy mashed potato.

Cipher made a disgusted face as he ate the undercooked vegetable. "No," he concluded and stood up to take his tray with the uneaten shepherd's pie over to the kitchen. "I'll get something from the shop I think."

The mercenary decided on another pair of ham and cheese sandwiches and a chocolate bar. He then made his way to the station's uniform stores, a large building, where he found a middle-aged woman unstitching staff-sergeant rank insignias from the sleeves of an Air Force ceremonial jacket.

"Afternoon." He said politely to the woman, who looked up from her work as he entered. "I was wondering if you could help me with something."

"That depends what it is." The woman spoke softly; peering through glasses as she carefully conducted her work.

"I was wondering if you could make me an insignia patch for me and my wingman's flight suit." He asked.

"Do you have any design in particular?" The woman put down her work and pulled out a folder from a bookshelf behind her desk. "These are designs I currently have in the storeroom."

"Actually, I have designed my own." Cipher handed over the drawing.

The woman looked at it. "You have a fine eye for art." She commented. "You're a mercenary?"

"I and my wingman are, yeah." Cipher replied. "How could you tell?"

"Only mercenaries tend to get their own insignias." She smiled. "When you work as a store's manager for as long as me, you learn this stuff. I will make you your patches ready for tomorrow."

Cipher thanked the woman and left for the briefing room. It was time for his turn at the patrol.

"Base Command to Galm Team, unknown signal has appeared on radar at bearing 315 at 50,000 feet over."

Cipher checked his radar. "Roger Base Command, signal has appeared on radar. Turning to intercept over." He and Foulke turned to the new vector.

"Roger that."

Cipher increased his speed and put the nose up, swiftly climbing from 20,000 feet to 50,000 feet. He checked his radar and saw that the blip had not changed course.

"What do you think?" Foulke asked.

"Probably either a lost civilian pilot or a bold recon aircraft." Cipher replied. He armed his AMRAAMs. "I'm not taking any chances."

"Me neither." Foulke dropped back a little, in the ideal place for an air to air engagement.

"Base Command to Galm Team, signal is two miles from your position." The ATC said. "It is headed directly for us."

"Understood."

"If it doesn't change course when intercepted, you are cleared to engage."

"Wilco." Cipher said. "Galm Two, use of AMRAAMs cleared."

"This is Galm Two roger that."

"One mile and closing." Base Command reported.

"I've got a visual." Cipher had spotted a sleek white shape in the distance. "That's not a civilian aircraft by the looks of things…"

The aircraft shot by underneath them. Reacting instantly, Cipher pulled a high-g turn, increasing his throttle to keep up. "Jeez, that's fast!"

The aircraft had one large delta wing, and a long thin fuselage with two canard foreplanes. Cipher shook his head with awe. "Target is one XB-70 bomber." He reported.

"Roger, shoot it down!" The Base Commander ordered.

One of Cipher's AIM-9's streaked towards the elegant experimental bomber. It blew apart the left rudder and smoke began to pour from the three port engines. With its left control surfaces damaged or destroyed, the aircraft flipped and entered an uncontrollable spin. Cipher followed it down. Just before the bomber hit the mountains, an ejection pod exploded from the cockpit.

"Base Command, target successfully intercepted."

"Well done Galm Team, continue patrol."

Two weeks passed, and Cipher slowly got tired of the day-to-day regime at the base. The Tigershark was soon air worthy, his Eagle could've passed for a newly built fighter and he could practically fly the patrol route with his eyes closed. So he was relieved when he and Foulke were called into the briefing room one clear day.

"We must regain control over Route 171, which runs through Arlon, to secure a transit route for our ground troops." The Lieutenant General briefed Galm Team and a group of Mitsubishi F-1 pilots. "There are bridges over this route, three over the Aare River, all heavily guarded by the Belkan Armoured Corps. Securing this route is critical to Ustio's attack on the Belkan Forces. Destroy the Belkan ground units blocking passage along this route and secure this supply line between our forces and the Osean Army."

"Sir," Cipher caught the attention of the officer. "I and Foulke fly Eagles, which aren't suited to ground attack. How could we contribute to the success of this operation?"

"Galm Team will engage enemy fighters in air to air combat, allowing the Ground Attack aircraft to engage the Belkan ground forces. However, you will be armed with two bombs so feel free, once air superiority has been acquired, to attack Belkan ground forces."

"Okay." The pilots were dismissed and Cipher and Foulke arrived at their planes to help the mechanics fit and arm their two bombs on their wing pylons, as well as their usual air to air setup.

"Finally, a _real_ mission!" Foulke said happily as he readied his plane. "Let's go buddy!"

Cipher was ready in an instant, and Galm Team were up in the air before the F-1 Squadron was even taxiing. They loitered around as the six attackers had taken off before heading to Arlon in northern Sapin. Along the way, he studied the outdated attack aircraft, and realised the state of which the Ustio Air Force was in. He opened up a private channel for him and Foulke on the radio.

"Pixy, have you _seen _the aircraft Ustio are sending out on this mission?"

"Yeah," Foulke replied, also sounding a bit concerned. "Do they even want to secure a supply line?"

"You'd have thought that maybe they would've bought in some A-10's just in case." Cipher said, bewildered.

"I know, they were ill prepared for Belka's invasion." Foulke answered. "No-one expected it."

The formation was soon over Sapin territory, and the combat airspace planned for the mission. Cipher looked at the rural plain where Route 171 curved through.

"This fight will sure change the look of this place." He muttered. Foulke agreed.

"Eagle Eye to Galm Team." An AWACS reported in. "The targets are in formation along the highway, take them out."

"Okay Galm Two, cleared to engage all air units." Cipher ordered.

"Roger." Foulke dropped back a little as the two Eagles searched for any enemy fighters around the first bridge. "Keep an eye on us up there, AWACS."

"Belkan ground forces are blocking off our transport route, destroy them all!"

"Hunter One to all Hunter units." The attacker squadron flight lead called in. "You know what to do. Hunter Two, with me." Two Kaizens broke away from the six-plane formation and dived towards the bridge. The Belkan tanks didn't stand a chance as two bombs detonated within their checkpoint.

"Bridge one taken care of." The flight lead reported. "Move onto the next bridge."

"Here they come…three o'clock!" A Belkan army officer shouted.

Cipher and Foulke escorted the attackers onwards to the next bridge. Anti-aircraft fire erupted from a group of houses and a plume of smoke signified a SAM hidden in the area. The Surface-to-Air missile shot towards one of the attackers, which failed to evade the deadly projectile and exploded into flames.

"Dammit, Hunter Two is down." Hunter One reported. "Everyone, watch out for AA weapons." Four clicks were heard over the mike.

"Numerous houses are in the planned range of attack." Foulke observed. "Is that…part of the operation?" He asked the AWACS, unsure of whether to attack. They didn't respond. "I'm not sure if we should, it's up to you, Galm One."

"Those houses may contain Belkan supplies." Cipher answered. "Better not take any chances." He dived towards the SAM site, ignoring the warning sounds of radar tracking, and loosened a bomb on the AA weapon. The blast also knocked out a couple of house walls and flattened several tents.

"Okay, roger." Foulke didn't sound like he enjoyed the idea of destroying civilian houses. Cipher switched to the private channel.

"Larry, we can't take any chances." He explained. "Besides, the civilians have probably been evacuated anyway, and the houses will probably be rebuilt after the war has ended."

Foulke clicked the mike to show he understood.

"Enemy aircraft on radar." Eagle Eye. "Galm Team, engage."

"Wilco." Cipher armed his four sidewinder AAM's and climbed to meet his prey. Four MiG-21bis fighters in a finger four formation popped up as green squares again in his HUD.

"They're passing between us!" Foulke said.

Cipher's gaze followed them as the formations passed. Passing underneath and pulling a high g half-loop onto the rear of the formation, he engaged.

The lead Fishbed pulled away then exploded as Foulke fired his AAM and shot past. The Belkan flight lead's wingman broke off to engage and Cipher followed.

"No-one engages my wingman." He said as he fired an AIM-9 which blew away the enemy fighter's engine outlet. The pilot bailed out.

"Buzzard Two, do you read me? Buzzard One, are you there?" One of the fighters frantically asked.

"They're down; it's just you and me." The other replied. "Engage the attackers!"

The Fishbeds dived. Cipher and Foulke followed closely. Cipher saw Foulke overshoot him slightly, then tear apart one fighter with his Vulcan cannon.

"Galm Two, splash another fighter." He pulled level, leaving Cipher with the last MiG. Faced with the prospect of joining his wingmen in a burning wreak of a fighter, the Belkan pilot callsign Buzzard Four pulled away.

"The last MiG is bugging out." Cipher reported as Hunter Three and Four began their attack run. "Galm Two, cover me."

He chased down the fleeing fighter and destroyed it without mercy. He spotted another group of houses and his radar had spied out three hidden SAMs in the middle. He increased his throttle and dropped his last bomb, destroying the missile launchers before they could lock onto him or the attackers.

"Hunter Six, I'm hit!" the Ustio pilot ejected from his bullet ridden plane. A Mirage 2000D and a MiG-21bis passed by at high speed and overshot Cipher.

He pulled up and switched to his AMRAAMs. The radar locked onto both fighters and Cipher fired both at the same time with a call of "Fox Three!" The MiG burst into flames whilst the Mirage pulled a sharp right turn, its delta wing allowing high manoeuvrability at low speeds.

"Dammit." He muttered, following the Belkan ace. Foulke unleashed a sidewinder, which the ace rolled and climbed rapidly to evade. The latter manoeuvre caused the Mirage to lose airspeed and Cipher was able to use his more powerful engines to close the gap between them.

"Guns guns guns." Orange projectiles from his cannon seemed to caress the enemy fighter, and then the large left wing exploded and tore off, causing the ace to enter an uncontrollable spin. Cipher pulled back on the stick to avoid colliding with the stricken fighter and then pulled level just in time to see the entire Hunter Squadron do a joint attack run and loosen their remaining bombs and missiles at the last bridge.

"Captain there's smoke by the bridge, we're about to enter the battle zone!" A Belkan transport unit driver cried.

"I didn't come all this way to be stopped now!" The leader said. "Hold tight, we'll punch right through!"

Cipher's hawk-like eyes spotted two more flights of Belkan fighters before his short-range radar picked them up.

"Don't let your cargo get damaged." The Belkan Army commander continued. "C'mon Ruchs Transport Unit, let's go!"

"Galm Two, more fighter flights incoming, use your AMRAAMs and take the flight on the right." He ordered his wingman.

"Got it. Galm Two, engaging." Foulke turned from a successful engagement with a blue F-15E Strike Eagle to gain a better angle to fire is missiles, and then let all four off at once. Three explosions appeared in the distance.

Cipher only had two AMRAAMs left, and he used them, but at the wrong time. Only one connected with a small bang. "Splash One." He reported the kill with a hint of frustration.

"Come on then. Let's dance." Foulke pulled a Split-S and chased the enemy fighter. Cipher then forgot about the world and entered his calm flying demeanour. All he focused on was his HUD, the enemy and his aircraft.

He pulled off at 90° and turned to intercept the three remaining Fishbeds. He let loose a burst of gunfire as they passed his nose and one more burst into flames. He pulled sharply onto the rear of the flight, the g's threatening to push him through the seat, and his sidewinder locked onto a second fighter, which exploded as Cipher let loose the missile.

Two left. They split, one going left and one going right. He saw by the silhouette against the sun that these were more Fishbed fighters. Blinded, he pulled vertical, in case any Belkan pilot had taken the opportunity to plant himself at his six.

"Galm One, the enemy's on your six!" Foulke warned him. Cipher performed a stall turn, spinning 180° and letting off a burst of 20mm rounds at the fighter below him. It lost control and began to fall like a brick to the ground below: Cipher had hit the pilot.

"One more." Eagle Eye said. Cipher checked his short range radar and located the last fighter speeding after the Ustio attackers. He dived, using his height advantage and powerful engines to quickly catch up and shoot him down with an AIM-9.

"All enemy fighters down, nice work Galm Team." The AWACS congratulated. "All aircraft, RTB. Looks like luck was on your side once again, Solo Wing."

"Yeah." Foulke replied. "Well I've had my share of going home without wings."

Cipher and Foulke were the first to land, and they entered the briefing room first. The officer was there, ready to give the debrief.

"The mission was a success." He said happily. "Passage along Route 171 has been secured. Thanks to you, Ustio will now be able to launch a counter-attack."

The two mercenaries went back to their accommodation block as the four remaining pilots from Hunter Squadron entered the briefing room. Instead of going to his own room, Foulke followed Cipher into his room.

"I still can't understand why Ustio would send F-1 Kaizen attackers!" Foulke shook his head. "Their air force is out of date; no wonder they were overrun…!"

"I know." Cipher stopped Foulke's rant. "But we can't do anything about that at the moment. It's not like we can go out and buy an entire flight of Warthogs for Hunter flight and then splash out for a squadron of Raptors to upgrade the Tigersharks!" He sighed, and unclenched his fist he was unconsciously clenching. "We've just gotta do our best."

Foulke looked taken aback, then nodded, looking at the floor at Cipher's feet. "You're right."

Cipher looked at the ¥4,000 in his hands. "Although if this keeps up, I'll be buying myself a new plane by the end of the war."

"What would you buy?" Foulke sat on his bed.

Cipher thought for a moment. "Probably a Eurofighter Typhoon". He decided eventually.

"Really?" Foulke grinned "I'd try and get my hands on one of those fifth generation stealth fighters like the Raptor or the Black Widow. Or…" he smiled "An X0-2 Wyvern."

"You wouldn't be able to afford a Wyvern, let alone the blueprints!" Cipher laughed. "The EASA deny everything about the plane!"

"True…" Foulke laughed with him. "Erusia kept it top secret until one crashed and killed the pilot."

The sound of an approaching helicopter shut them up. They jumped up and ran outside to see three pilots being helped out of a hovering Sea-King, which flew away when the pilots were safely off.

"I swear only two aircraft were shot down…?" Foulke wondered.

"And only one pilot managed to bail out." Cipher shared his wingman's confusion. They walked over to the group, surrounded by three armed soldiers.

"That one." Cipher pointed to the smaller pilot in a maroon flying suit. "He's Hunter Six."

"How can you be so sure Captain…?" The soldier began to argue.

"Because I watched him get shot down." Cipher looked at the two other pilots, kneeling in their green flight suits.

"I'm sorry Captain, but I cannot let him go until he passes the security checks." The soldier stood his ground.

Cipher gave the Ustio pilot and the two other pilots a last look before heading to the mess for dinner.

"Those pilots in green, were they Belkan?" Foulke asked.

"Yeah." Cipher replied. "And I think I know who they are."

Foulke raised an eyebrow.

"That Mirage I shot down." Cipher explained. "I saw the patches on their arms.

"_The Belkan War is shrouded in mystery." Thompson spoke as the camera showed copies of booklets about the war. "But now, a decade after the peace accords, a portion of the records was finally released. I quickly got a hold of it. Wanting more details, I acquired information from unknown sources. There was a reason for my obsession."_

_A map of Belka, Osea and Ustio appeared, with Belka's territory highlighted in yellow. As Thompson spoke, it shrank._

"_The roots of the war lie in the Belkan federal law review that took place in 1988." He explained. "Belka, suffering from economic strife, permitted its eastern territory to secede, and the Republic of Ustio was born. But Belka's economic troubles did not subside. Meanwhile, taking advantage of the situation, the world superpower Osea continued to flourish." Osea, highlighted in blue, grew and took over some of Belka's western areas._

_A clip of Belka's flag, white with yellow and black stripes, showed the flag being raised and blowing in the wind. "Amidst the economic panic, an extreme right wing party took power within Belka aiming to restore strength and stability to the nation. And on March 25__th__ 1995, with the discovery of natural resources in Ustio, Belka began to invade its neighbours. It was the beginning of The Belkan War."_

_Now the highlighted yellow nation began to expand, taking over most of Ustio and parts of Osea and Sapin. Videos of bombers and fighters of the Belkan Air Force were shown._

"_Unprepared, each country fell quickly before the might of the legendary Belkan Air Force. In just a few days, they occupied all territories except for the mountain range. In response, the occupied Ustio government military placed all their hopes on a joint operation between Osea and the foreign mercenary forces."_

"_This of course, can be found in any history book." Thompson said. "But I noticed a strange similarity in the materials I gathered. There were several accounts about a mercenary, all followed by the codeword 'Demon.' But most of the information was incomplete. Still, I was intrigued."_

"_I decided to pursue the history of the Belkan War through this mercenary. I was certain I would find something there. Would it be the hidden truth behind the war? Or just another battlefield legend?"_

"_I wasn't able to meet the mercenary himself," He explained, "Actually; it's questionable if he ever did exist. But thanks to some old friends in the military, I was able to track down several individuals who knew him."_

_The camera switched back to the pilot in the war torn room. "'Solo Wing' is one such man."_


	3. The Round Table

Five days later, the morning saw Cipher wake up on time for the first time since he arrived at the cold base. He showered and got dressed into his recently-washed flight suit, admiring the red and orange squadron patch on his upper right arm and his two silver bars above his left chest pocket.

"I feel good." He smiled to himself and headed to the mess for breakfast. It was a clear day, but the snow from the other day hadn't melted. As he entered through the double glass doors, Foulke and Crow Team jumped out from behind pillars and from the cloakroom and toilets with party poppers, setting them off in his direction.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" they cried out, laughing at Cipher's face as he was bombarded with confetti. The entire mess peered over at the mercenary teams with interest over the commotion.

Cipher pulled Crow Three into a headlock, the smaller man unable to break free. "You guys…!" he chortled. "How did you know?"

The captain in charge of Crow Team grinned. "When you join an Air Force Unit, they _will _find out these things…"

The Air Traffic Controller entered. She saw Crow Three subdueled by Cipher and looked amused before heading to get breakfast. Crow Three blushed and struggled to get free.

"Hey PJ," Crow Two smiled evilly. "Was that your girlfriend?"

The mercenary team laughed and teased PJ, who grinned and tried to change the subject. After breakfast, Foulke called him to the accommodation block before the morning brief.

"Here Buddy, I got you something." He handed over a crudely wrapped present. "I apologise about my wrapping skills but y'know, it's just gonna be torn off…"

Cipher smiled at his wingman. "Thanks Larry." He tore off the wrapping paper.

It was a book. It wasn't very thick, and was a hardback. Cipher read the front cover, which had a picture of an EF2000 Typhoon painted dark grey/blue with a red nose and white wingtips.

_Ace pilots and Squadrons of the Belkan Air Force_

"I thought you might find it interesting to read." Foulke said.

"I will." Cipher thanked him, genuinely grateful with his gift. He had six hours to kill, so he lay on his bed and opened the new book, scanning the contents and choosing to look at the 2nd Air Division, 52nd Tactical Fighter Squadron _'Rot'_.

_The Belkan Air Force 2nd Air Division, 52nd Tactical Fighter Squadron Rot is an elite Belkan squadron consisting of four EF2000 Typhoons. _It read. _The Squadron is led by the ace Detlef Fleisher, who is known as the Belkan Air Force's 'poster boy'._

Below, was a photo of a man in military uniform with the rank slides of a Lieutenant Colonel on his shoulders. He had serious black eyes and short brunette hair.

_He became an ace pilot after shooting down three Ustio Su-27 Flankers over B7R in 1993 and on his second sortie into the Round Table one year later, he eliminated a flight of F-16 Fighting Falcons in the same area._

Cipher flicked to another page, ignoring the rest of the page on the squadron.

_The Belkan Air Force 5th Air Division, 23rd Tactical Fighter Squadron 'Gelb' is a Belkan ace squadron, made up of two Su-37 Terminators. Despite lacking in numbers, this pair of Ace pilots and their Su-37 'Terminator' are a great threat to any pilot, due to their cooperative flying style. Orbert Jager is the flight leader of the Belkan 23rd Tactical Fighter Squadron Gelb. Not much is known about this man, other that he has a close relationship with his only wingman, Rainer Altman; the two executed complicated combat manoeuvres with perfection, thus earning them the nickname of "The Couple Cormorants"._

Cipher became engrossed in the Belkan Air Force's aces, reading about the Grun Squadron and their unique squadron rule of combat to survive, to the infamous Schwarze Squadron, their black and red Foxhounds and the only squadron cleared to engage at will, even shooting down Belkan pilots attempting to defect. He admired the flying style of Schnee Squadron and their tactics of jamming radar whilst using long-range phoenix missiles from their Super Tomcats to shoot down enemy forces from afar.

The book even had records of individual pilots. He had an idea, and flicked to the glossary, looking for the Mirage 2000D and any ace squadrons or pilots.

He found a pilot and turned to the page. It showed a white Mirage 2000D with red and black markings and outlines. The insignia was the same as the one on the pilot's forearm he'd seen when he was brought to Valais Airbase.

_Manfred Ketzer, also known as Wuerfel One, is a lesser known ace pilot and the flight lead of Wuerfel Squadron. They are usually deployed as Air Support units when the Belkan army advances, engaging air and ground units which threaten the success of the operations on the ground._

'Until I shot him down.' Cipher thought, smiling.

"Hey buddy!" Foulke called from outside the room. "It's almost time, you coming?"

Cipher sat up, and put the book to one side. "I'm coming." He pulled his boots on and grabbed his leather jacket and the two mercenaries made their way to the briefing room for the brief. They sat in the front row as they were the only pilots there.

The Intelligence Officer entered and set up the brief.

"Head Operations has issued an emergency order for a reconnaissance mission to be conducted near the border. You will be monitoring the airspace B7R, currently under Belkan control." The Officer said as the map outlined Airspace B7R. "Strong opposition is expected by enemy squadrons, and the presence of a magnetic field has been detected, which may interfere with communications. In short, this will not be a walk in the park." He warned. "The B7R airspace is located above an area rich in subterranean resources, where many conflicts have been fought in the past." He explained. "You are authorised to engage enemy planes upon contact. The time has come for your skills to be tested."

The mercenaries left and jogged out to their planes.

"Drop tanks?" Foulke looked surprised as he did his checks, looking at the streamlined tank on the central under-fuselage hardpoint.

"Guess we'll be flying for a while." Cipher leapt into the cockpit and started up his fighter. "Let's go to the Round Table."

"_Belkan Priority One Strategic Airspace, B7R." 'Solo Wing' said slowly with awe as the camera showed a birds-eye view of the acrid plain taken from a helicopter. "AKA the 'Round Table.' It was the grand stage where we pilots performed. We were all on an equal footing, fighting under the same conditions. No affiliations or ranks to hinder us. Aces from every nation crisscrossed through those skies in pursuit of air-superiority. The only rule of engagement was to survive."_

Cipher hated himself for being right. He badly wanted to stretch and his legs had gone numb from sitting on the hard seat for too long. The HUD was turned off and Cipher, sensing that the Round Table was close, turned it back on again. He stared out at the acrid landscape, sandy rocks and little signs of life apart from the small tree-like shrubs in little groups scattered all over the place.

"What's it like down there?" Foulke was flying at a higher altitude. Cipher looked up.

"Wouldn't like to bail out here."

"Me neither." Foulke agreed.

"Enemy aircraft on radar." AWACS Eagle Eye reported. "Exercise caution."

Cipher and Foulke clicked their mike. Cipher opened a channel which would allow him to hear intercepted transmissions.

"Is something wrong with the IFF?" A young Belkan asked his flight lead. "Only two aircraft are showing up on radar."

"They knew we were coming…" Cipher realised. "Galm Two, they're on to us." He warned his wingman.

"Don't they know about the Round Table…?" Another confused Belkan said.

"Galm Team cleared to engage." Eagle Eye said. Just the words the two mercenaries were hoping to hear.

"Roger that." Foulke answered as Cipher cleared his wingman for air to air engagement. "Arming AMRAAMs."

Cipher broke away from the two-man formation as a flight of two enemy fighters came up at his two o'clock high. The two fighters turned to face him, and the mercenary ace locked onto them and shot them down using two medium range missiles. "Splash two enemy fighters." Cipher reported. "Moving onto a second flight." His radar showed another pair of patrolling fighters and moved to intercept.

"Galm Two roger." Foulke's voice sounded strained, as if he were bracing against high g's from a tight turn. "We WILL survive Galm One!"

"Fly hard and shoot, straight!" A Belkan commander ordered.

'Eight missiles left…' Cipher thought and checked his radar. 'Five aircraft remaining.' One disappeared off the radar as Foulke dispatched it with a missile. 'Four aircraft remaining.'

The HUD picked up two enemy fighters and a glance at the radar showed Cipher that the two planes were headed straight for him.

"You wanna joust?" Cipher muttered. "Bring it on!" He locked on and fired his last two medium-range missiles at the challengers

"Break hard and evade!" A Belkan cried, but the two fighters exploded.

"Splash two more." Cipher reported. "Galm Two, how you doing?"

"Three kills." His wingman reported. "The last one is bugging out."

Cipher shook his head slightly, grinning behind his mask. He knew he would've shot down that fighter. "Ammo check." He asked his wingman.

"Three Sidewinder, four AMRAAMs and about nine-hundred rounds of gun ammunition." Foulke reported. "Yourself?"

"Six sidewinders, no AMRAAMs and nine-hundred and forty rounds." Cipher counted. "Let's enter the Round Table."

Foulke's grey and red Eagle formed up on Cipher's wing. The two fighters passed over the mountain range, marking the boundary of the legendary Airspace B7R.

"So these mountains make up the Round Table…" Foulke said. "I've heard my share of stories about it."

"Galm two, keep an eye on your radar for enemy fighters," the mercenary ace ordered.

"Enemy aircraft heading in at high speed." Eagle Eye warned.

"Galm One, enemy reinforcements, probably the main force." Foulke said.

The two Eagles turned towards the incoming fighters. Cipher checked his radar and identified the targets.

"Targets are four Hornets." Cipher reported.

"Galm Team, we cannot authorise a retreat. Engage the bandits."

Foulke clicked his mike. "I thought you'd say that, this is gonna cost you extra…"

"Grun Two, report." The flight lead of the enemy squadron ordered.

"This is Grun Two, there's two of 'em." The second pilot said with a sneer.

"Well then, let's have some fun!"

The four ship formation popped up on his HUD. Before Cipher could order Foulke to use his Advanced Medium Range Air to Air Missiles, the flight split, the lead passing overhead and the three others passing either side. Cipher caught a glimpse the fighters, painted in green and brown camouflage with red stripes on the wingtips.

"Ah shit." Foulke groaned as he turned to engage. "Hornets! Don't let them sting you in the ass."

"They good?" Cipher asked through gritted teeth as he turned sharp to come about on their tails.

Foulke had latched onto the tail of one. He fired a missile, but the fighter popped flares and snapped off to one direction to evade, forcing Foulke to pull an improvised split-s. "I'd say so," he replied.

"Looks like you mercenaries made the wrong choice."

Cipher realised that the Belkan ace had tapped into their communications.

"This is the Round Table, dead men's words hold no meaning." Foulke retorted.

"Galm Team, the enemy seems highly experienced; don't let them take control of the battle." AWACS Eagle Eye said.

"All Grun units, set ejection handles to green." The Grun flight lead ordered.

Cipher had engaged his own bandit. He fired off a burst of gunfire as the two aircraft rapidly climbed, tearing apart the port elevator and damaging the F-18's intake. Unstable and spewing unhealthy black smoke from the left engine outlet, it dived, Cipher hard on his tail. A second burst of gunfire caught his wing and the Hornet span out of control, disintegrating into fiery debris. Cipher pulled away and then dived again, rapidly losing altitude to evade a missile.

"Those bastards…" Grun One muttered. "All planes, time to get serious!"

"Galm One, splash one bandit but I've picked one up on my six." He reported calmly. "Galm Two, how you doing?"

"Still chasing this son of a…." His wingman reported.

Cipher decided he'd lost enough altitude and pulled up at 500ft and engaged his afterburners, shooting past the Hornet that was still diving.

"Dammit, both of them know what they're doing!" the enemy flight lead muttered as he tried to follow Cipher's manoeuvre. But the mercenary had pulled a sharp loop and was now following the Grun leader. He flicked to his sidewinders, but then switched back to guns when he realised the missiles wouldn't be able to imitate the enemy's evasive turns and climbs Cipher was following.

"Reckless attacks aren't gonna cut it with these guys." Foulke observed.

As the ace pulled into a high-g turn, Cipher forced his Eagle into a sharper turn, the nose rising above the carrier-based multirole aircraft his prey flew. A volley of cannon fire later and the Grun Team commander was forcefully ejected from his plane as it exploded.

"Splash the flight lead." Cipher whooped and looked for his wingman, who was dealing with the last. He locked onto Foulke's target and launched his first sidewinder of the combat. The Hornet popped a flare and pulled away, straight into the pipper of Foulke's HUD.

"Splash the last of the fighters." Foulke said as the last Hornet, now missing his left wing, crashed into the mountains.

"Well done Galm Team." The AWACS congratulated. "Incoming transmission from the Operations Command. Allied naval force has begun its advance. We appreciate the help."

"Looks like we were just a couple of decoys." Foulke said, his voice giving away his personal distaste.

Cipher was surprised. Had Operations Command expected them to get killed? Or had they actually thought that their skills would enable them to survive. He shrugged the feeling off.

"Yo Buddy!" Foulke said. "You still alive?"

Cipher barrel-rolled his fighter in reply, then settled into his seat and tried to get comfy. It was going to be a long ride home.

Cipher had no strength left in his legs, and the walk from his hanger across to the briefing block was harder than usual. He was grateful for the padded chairs, and collapsed into one. "I have to get better padding on my seat." He explained to the intelligence officer, who was looking at him, amused.

Foulke was in a similar state, entering just as Cipher commented about his seat. "I think I may have to do the same, my arse is dead."

"Well," The officer started. "We successfully confused the Belkans. While you engaged the fighters in the Round Table, the Osean Third Naval Fleet was able to leave port undetected. No go and rest up." The officer looked at Cipher's exhausted form. "You've earned it'.


	4. Juggernaut

It was time.

Cipher put down the book on Belkan Aces and headed for the briefing room. It was four days after the two mercenaries had played in the Round Table against the defending squadrons and Grun Team, an ace squadron consisting of four F-18 Hornets. He'd made sure to record those kills, along with the ace Tiger from his first mission, the XB-70 from his patrol and the Mirage from his second mission.

The room was more crowded than usual, with more pilots getting involved in the latest mission. If you would call eight pilots a crowd.

"Okay, people listen up!" The officer silenced the group. "The Ustio and Osean coalition forces are to launch a joint campaign. The collective strategic military force of the two armies will be referred to as the 'Allied Forces.' The campaign will be called 'Offensive Campaign No. 4101'.

The map showed the Futuro Canal, which acted as a "border" of sorts, as it separated Oured Bay of the Atlantic Ocean and the Aurick Bay of the Anfang Sea.

"The objective of this operation is to secure a sea transit lane for the Allied Forces." The Intelligence Officer explained. "To secure this channel, the Belkan forces occupying the Futuro Canal must be cleared out. You will be given a choice of missions in this joint operation."

The map outlined three areas, codenamed GELNIKOS, ROUND HAMMER and COSTNER.

"Offensive Campaign No. 4101 will be comprised of the following three air missions. First, there is 'Operation Gelnikos.' This is an air-to-air/air-to-surface operation, whose objective is to wipe out Belka's air squadron, port facilities and surface weapons. Next is 'Operation Round Hammer.' This is an air-to-surface operation, whose objective is to wipe out the Belkan fleet, its port facilities and surface weapons. And the last mission is called 'Operation Costner.' This is an escort mission whose objective is to protect the naval vessels in Osea's 3rd Naval Fleet, including its state-of-the-art aircraft carrier, which will be making a trial voyage."

"Fierce resistance by Belkan forces is expected in all three missions. Choose carefully which one you wish to participate in." He finished.

"Hunter Squadron will participate in 'Operation Round Hammer.'" Hunter One's flight lead said.

"Lancer Squadron will undertake 'Operation Gelnikos." The leader of a second F-20 Tigershark squadron said.

"What about Crow Team?" Foulke asked.

"They are taking part in base defence in case of a surprise attack." The officer answered.

Cipher felt all eyes on him. But he felt no pressure; his mind was already made up. Since the Eagle was an air to air fighter, it made perfect sense that they took part in an air to air mission.

"Operation Costner." He announced. "Galm Team will take part in defending the allied fleet."

"It is decided then." The officer continued. "Operation Gelnikos will take place first, followed by Round Hammer then Costner. Good luck."

Cipher stood and left, heading towards his aircraft. A group of mechanics looked up as he came over.

"What do you need?" One asked.

"Missiles, load her up for air-to-air." Cipher replied. "Same for my wingman."

He watched as the outdated F-1 attackers followed by a group of F-20 Tigersharks taxied and took off one by one. He shook his head and sighed.

"What's wrong?" Fouke asked.

"If those guys survive," He gestured to the distant black shapes. "I will be seriously impressed."

Foulke looked over to where his flight lead looked. "Yeah." He replied. "But they've come a long way."

"Captain," A mechanic called. "Your aircraft are ready."

Cipher looked over. The F-15C was armed with almost the same load-out as he'd had during his first mission into the Round Table. He groaned as he anticipated the uncomfortable ride that was going to trouble him.

Futuro Canal was the name given to a thin, long stretch of water flowing through a desert plain. Cipher looked down and saw the port attacked in Operation Gelnikos. Most of the facilities were on fire, fuel tanks smashed and ships sunk. Lancer had done their job well. He even noticed the wreckage of a few fighters. Looking into the horizon ahead, he saw several small explosions.

"Operation Round Hammer is complete." AWACS Eagle Eye said. "Begin Operation Costner."

This was the signal Cipher had been waiting for. He released his drop tank and gently dived towards the Osean Fleet below, pulling up and flying low over the carrier, noticing a couple of fighters preparing for take-off. He formed up behind the last destroyers and flew as slow as the Eagle would allow him, with Foulke on his wing.

"This is Commander Weeker on the _Kestrel_." The commanding officer of the carrier radioed in. "Everyone listen in but keep working. We'll sail straight through the canal and let our flyboys take care of the attackers. Let's go!"

Cipher checked his powerful radar. He spotted blips coming in from both sides. "This is Galm One, enemy aircraft on radar." He reported.

"Don't let them sink the _Kestrel_!" A pilot said.

"There's the counter-attack signal." An Ustio pilot said. "I've been waiting a long time for this."

"Haven't we all?" Another replied as he broke away to follow the former. Cipher flew in the opposite direction to engage the aircraft coming in from the right hand side of the canal

"Galm Two, cleared to engage." He said, freeing his wingman from the engagement restrictions.

"Roger, focusing all attacks on air targets." Foulke confirmed the order.

Cipher saw three squares on his HUD, confirming the presence of Belkan aircraft. "Three bandits at our twelve low." He said. "Galm Two, we'll fly past and pull onto their tails."

Foulke clicked the mike. The two Eagles shot past the desert camouflaged attacker planes and curved round onto their tails.

"Go for the carrier!" the lead aircraft ordered. "If we sink it, we've won!"

"Fox Three." An AMRAAM dropped from the belly of Foulke's fighter and shot towards the far left Belkan F-1 Kaizen. The outdated attacker exploded, sending scraps of metal scattering across the desert. "Got one."

"Fox Two," A sidewinder, one of four, sent the second Kaizen spiralling to the floor. Cipher grinned and splashed the last using his gun. "That's two for me."

"Dammit!" the Belkan pilot yelled as he was forcefully ejected from his plane.

Cipher checked his radar and IFF to see how Fenrir was doing. To his dismay, the Belkans had shot down all but two of the six-plane Ustio squadron. "Galm Two, lets help Fenrir!" He engaged his afterburners and streaked across the sky with Foulke on his six, barely keeping up. He arrived just in time to see a pair of Su-27 Flankers shoot down the last of the Ustio Tigersharks with a cry from the flight lead.

"Postler One, that's the last of those Ustio fighters." Cipher heard their flight lead report over the intercepted comms.

"Postler Two to Postler One, we have incoming aircraft." The group turned to the incoming Eagles.

At such speed and angles, Cipher knew that a missile shot would be useless. But he flicked a switch on his control stick, looked at the formation ahead and locked onto the lead Flanker. "Galm One, Fox Two!"

"What!?" Foulke sounded surprised. Why was his flight lead making such a rookie mistake?

But it all became clear. The AIM-9X detached itself from the lead Eagle and snapped rapidly upwards with more agility than any normal missile towards its target, which was blown from the skies.

"Postler One! Do you read?" The three planes passed by and turned to get onto each other's tail. The super-manoeuvrability of the Flanker allowed it to turn quicker and Cipher found himself rapidly and violently jinking to avoid an AA-11 Archer short range missile.

"Allied bastards…" The Belkan ace muttered as the missile missed the target. Cipher turned but the more agile, larger fighter stayed planted to the Eagle.

"Galm Team, more aircraft are approaching." AWACS Eagle Eye reported.

"Get those fighters into the air now!" Commander Weeker said to his crew over the radio.

"Galm Two, Fox Four!" Cipher strained to look behind him as the Flanker lost it's wing to 20mm gunfire from Foulke.

"Thanks." Cipher pulled level then banked towards the next wave of enemy fighters.

"Missile point of impact confirmed! We're taking on water! This is it, we're going down." A destroyer captain exclaimed.

Cipher looked down and watched a group of Mirage attackers pulling away from the fleet, now halfway through the canal. As he watched, a missile streaked from an Aegis Class cruiser and shot down one of the planes.

"Red One through Four, we'll engage the fighters. Galm Team, destroy the attackers!" Cipher assumed this was the Osean Maritime Defence Force's Tomcats.

"Galm Team roger." Cipher dived onto the rear of the group of Mirages, Foulke following carefully. The two remaining attackers split, forcing the two man mercenary formation to split too.

"Galm Two fox two!" Cipher saw the plane explode out of the corner of his eye. His target tried desperately to shake off Cipher, but the mercenary was latched onto the rear of the Mirage. Cipher followed the pilot's every move easily. He switched to the intercepted comms.

"He's still at my six! Goddammit someone help me out!" The terrified pilot cried.

"Are you gonna shoot him down?" Foulke asked, amused. "Or just follow him until you both run out of fuel?"

Cipher let loose a torrent of gunfire and destroyed the fighter. "I was having fun." He said. "Apparently, these are meant to be professional pilots. I was just testing him."

"Three o'clock low!" Foulke said suddenly.

Cipher banked and looked. A lone F-1 applied full afterburners and shot towards the fleet. AA fire erupted from the ships like a volcano, and the Kaizen was completely annihilated. But in the last moments of the aircraft's life, it loosened a missile and hit a destroyer.

"We've taken a hit at the bow!" the destroyer's captain reported out over the radio.

"Eagle Eye, are there any more Belkan aircraft in the area?" Foulke asked.

"Negative. Galm Team, standby until the fleet is out of the canal." The AWACS ordered.

"Roger that." Cipher curved towards the rear of the fleet. Suddenly, the Osean ships opened fire on the mercenary team with their AA guns, narrowly missing their targets.

"Friendly fire! Friendly Fire!" Cipher yelled as he snapped away. Foulke had jinked in the opposite direction.

"Hold your fire, they're friendly aircraft!" someone shouted. The gunfire ceased.

Cipher and Foulke cautiously formed back up at the fleet's rear. Cipher kept an eye on his powerful radar, looking for any signs of Belkan activity.

"This is Commander Weeker, my fleet has reached the halfway point." The _Kestrel_'s commander said.

"Galm Team, enemy aircraft on radar heading towards the left side of the canal." AWACS Eagle Eye said. "Intercept them."

"Roger that." Cipher and Foulke turned in unison in the direction of the aircraft that threatened the fleet. Cipher armed his three remaining AMRAAMs as he closed in on the targets.

"More aircraft approaching from the other side!" Eagle Eye said.

"Osean aircraft, engage!" Cipher quickly ordered.

"You heard the mercenary!" Red One passed on the order.

"Roger that leader, I'm goin' in!" Red Two whooped as the F-14D Super Tomcat squadron engaged the fighters."

Three squares popped up on Cipher's HUD. The medium range missiles locked on and Cipher fired. Just before they hit, they disengaged and ignored the targets.

"Dammit, ECM's!" Cipher muttered. "Tornadoes." The swing-wing strike airplanes and the air-superiority fighters passed each other. The Eagles easily swung round onto the tails of the less manoeuvrable attackers.

"Damn, I have a bandit on my six!" Red Three cried over the radio. "Need backup!"

Cipher ignored the cry for help and used his guns against the two-seat attackers with more success than the AMRAAMs. One Tornado was shredded by the volley of Cipher and Foulke's guns. The other two swept their wings back, dropped their fuel tanks and tried to outrun the mercenaries.

"They're pulling away!" Cipher cursed.

"Fox Two!" Foulke fired.

The attackers ignored the sidewinder and instead launched their loadout of two AGM-65 Maverick missiles each. The four air-to-surface weapons shot off towards the fleet and the aircraft peeled away to the right in a slow arc. The sidewinder's engine burned out and the projectile tumbled to the floor.

Cipher saw four explosions. He sighed with relief as he noticed that the _Kestrel _had suffered no hits. Two of her destroyer escorts, however, hadn't fared so well.

"All hands, abandon this ship!" One cried as the vessel threatened to capsize.

The second destroyer had been completely blown apart by three of the four missiles. She sank without a trace.

"This is Red One, all fighters down." The leader of the Tomcat squadron radioed in.

"This is Commander Weeker on the _Kestrel._" The aircraft carrier's captain said. "My fleet has managed to pass through the canal."

Cipher could hear the crew on the bridge cheering and shouting behind the captain.

"We've suffered some losses, but nothing too serious. Thanks to the gentlemen for providing air support." He finished.

Cipher and Foulke turned in unison away from the fleet. Their job here was done, but the complete loss of Fenrir was nothing to celebrate.

"Operation Coster was a succeeded, contributing to the overall success of Offensive Campaign No.4101." The intelligence officer said when the two mercenaries had entered the briefing room. "This will make your next operation a whole lot easier."

"What about Fenrir?" Foulke asked.

The officer put his notes down and turned off the screen. "An SAR operation is underway to find them." He explained. "They should be back soon. Now, I think you'll be happy to know that now we have secured these supply routes, Osea has offered to fly in aircraft to replace the out-of-date aircraft we are operating currently."

"Sweet!" Cipher grinned. "What have you got?"

"Hunter Squadron will replace their F-1's for A-10 Thunderbolt attackers." The officer sat in a chair and took off his hat. "Fenrir and Lancer should be getting F-16 Fighting Falcons."

"That sounds good." Cipher said as Foulke nodded in approval. "How many of each?"

"At least eight of each aircraft." The officer replied. "Obviously, we want more to act as replacements or planes for new pilots but we'll have to see what Osea can spare." He sighed. "At least for now, we'll have a decent arsenal of aircraft to strike back at Belka and liberate our country."

"What's the next strike?" Foulke asked.

"We're looking into the possibility of retaking Solis Ortus, the mountain town just southwest of Directus." He said. "It can be used as a staging ground for our assault on our capital."

Cipher and Foulke stood. The Officer replaced his hat on his head and opened the door for them.

"You two are slowly becoming heroes." He said. "Keep it up; Ustio needs you more than you think…"


	5. Flicker of Hope

It was a couple of days later that the aircraft promised by Osea arrived at Valais Airbase. The three squadrons became increasingly active with their new aircraft, training and practicing flight and becoming used to the new flying styles of their aircraft. Soon enough, the call came through for Cipher and Foulke to head to the briefing room. The mercenaries entered and sat with Fenrir.

"The mountain town of Solis Ortus is located just outside Ustio's capital, Directus." The intelligence officer explained. "The Allied Forces will deploy airborne troops, comprised primarily of Osea's 122nd Airborne Division over Solis Ortus, in a surprise air and ground attack on the Belkan Forces. This operation will play a critical role in Ustio's liberation. Your mission is to provide aerial support for the airborne troops."

"Destroy Belka's surface-to-air defence network and all interceptor aircraft, securing a safe drop zone for the airborne troops." He looked at Cipher and Foulke. "Be aware of civilians still inside Solis Ortus. Your actions will determine their fate."

Cipher and Foulke nodded. The pilots in the room stood and began to leave.

"Good luck." The Lieutenant General said as they left.

In the alert hanger, the mechanics loaded the fighters with the loadout instructed by their pilots. Foulke noticed Cipher's decision to not use bombs, and frowned.

"No bombs?" He asked his flight lead.

"Bombs can cause collateral damage to anything around where they hit." Cipher explained. "I don't want to accidently kill civilians."

"How will you engage ground targets?"

"The old fashioned way." Cipher grinned and gestured to the muzzle of his 20mm cannon.

Foulke shrugged and copied his flight lead's load of four AMRAAMs and six sidewinders. The two Eagles were the first taxiing as usual and Cipher's rear wheels had just left the runway when Fenrir's F-16 Fighting Falcons began to taxi. Cipher and Foulke circled the airbase as the new Fenrir fighters took off.

The six aircraft headed to the mountain town in three formations of two aircraft. It was early dusk, and the light was beginning to diminish. The sky was turning orange. Along the way, Cipher noted the flight path of four C-130 Hercules transports used by the 122nd Airborne. The flight of Ustio fighters merged with the first such transport just outside the combat airspace.

"Escort planes, this is the 122nd Airborne, now entering the operational airspace." The co-pilot reported. "We can't return to base until we empty this transport. We're counting on you."

"Cover the transports until they reach the drop zone." Eagle Eye reported.

"Get your asses in gear people!" A sergeant in the transport growled the order. "You gotta jump or you're of no value to this unit!"

"Charming." Foulke muttered as he and Cipher began a slow dive towards the first drop zone. Cipher's radar picked out the locations of three AA sites and two SAM's.

"Anyone showing weakness will be left behind!" The sergeant continued the drilling.

The AA guns opened fire on the mercenaries as they past low and fast over the town. Pulling up high, Cipher observed the town. "The town's split into three sections." He told Foulke who was busy shredding the AA guns with his own bullets. "It follows the valleys in the mountains."

"Copy that." Foulke banked around, creating sharp contrails in the sky as he turned for another attack run.

"Use that anger to get fired up and take them out, understood?" The sergeant yelled over the sound of wind. "Now go get them!" Cipher saw white parachutes appear in the wake of the C-130. He counted about sixty parachutists before diving and strafing the last remaining AA gun, which exploded as its ammunition went off.

A white puff of smoke trailed from a SAM launcher in the first section of the town and streaked towards the C-130. Cipher watched the Hercules fire off countless flares sideways and downwards, lighting up the sky like an angel of death. The missile exploded harmlessly in the sea of white-hot projectiles.

"He's mine." Henderson dived and loosened an AGM-88 HARM missile at the Anti-Air weapon and destroyed it before it could fire again.

"Nice of you to join the party." Foulke joked.

"Couldn't let you guys have all the fun." The Ustio flight lead replied humorously.

"Look out, there's Belkan SAM launchers stationed in the mountains." Fenrir Two warned.

"I wasn't informed there would be such a large disposition of troops!" A panicky paratrooper called out over the radio.

"Move onto the second section." Eagle Eye said. Foulke and Cipher followed the shallow mountain valley. On his radar, Cipher saw the second transport enter the combat airspace.

"Where are the Belkan fighters?" Cipher wondered aloud.

"They weren't expecting us." Foulke answered. "Guess we'll see how good their reaction time is."

They soon came to the second section under Belkan control. Cipher noticed that the section was defended by four AA guns and two SAMs based in parks and clearings throughout the town, picked out by his radar and shown on his HUD.

"Galm Two, engage the AA guns." Cipher ordered. "Watch out for civilian buildings."

"Galm Two roger." Foulke broke away from his port wing and dived lower to strafe the Belkan weapons. Meanwhile, Fenrir's HARM missiles destroyed the SAMs, clearing the way for the Galm Team.

"Good work Fenrir." Cipher said. "Begin attack on the third section, I don't want SAMs firing at me when the fighters come."

"Wilco!" Fenrir One ordered his flight around as they began their attacks. Cipher meanwhile had spotted an AA gun firing at his wingman, the orange projectiles narrowly missing the red wing of Foulke's Eagle. He dived at its back and loosened his own volley of gunfire, his underbelly meters above the roofs of the houses.

"Now's your chance! Go! Go! Go!" The encouragement from another loadmaster in the second C-130 signalled the arrival of the transport over the section Galm Team were fighting to supress. White parachutes appeared and floated to the ground like snowflakes. The Belkan AA weapons had also spied the 122nd Airborne, and opened fire. To Cipher's anger, parachutes began to crumble.

"We're gonna be shot full of holes before we even hit the ground!" A paratrooper said in dismay.

"We're the best! We're the best!" A soldier chanted.

"You'll be hard pressed to find a group of soldiers with more pride than them." Fenrir Four commented as he followed his flight lead to the third section.

"They're a brave bunch of soldiers, I'll give them that." Foulke agreed

"Galm Two, get that other AA gun!" Cipher shouted the order as he came in for another pass at the third weapon. The gun team saw him coming and opted to abandon the AA weapon before it was shot up by accurate 20mm cannon fire.

"Got another." Foulke said. "This is harder than I thought!" He formed back on Cipher's wing as the pair circled at 10,000 feet. They monitored the progress of Fenrir as they dealt with the Belkan Anti-Air defence network in the final section.

"Galm Team, incoming fighters." Eagle Eye said.

"Roger I see them." Foulke said. Cipher noted the incoming fighters coming from the north-east and north-west and converging on the third section.

"Galm Two, our job is to keep the enemy planes busy." Cipher said. "With me." He banked harder to engage the four coming in from the north-west.

"The Belkan air defence network is down." Henderson said. "The rest is up to the ground forces; protect the soldiers in the chute drop!"

Cipher saw the four fighters coming in on his HUD, the distance closing rapidly. Subconsciously, he switched to his AMRAAMs and launched all four.

"Fox Three!" He called. The four missiles split and tracked their individual targets with varying success. Two aircraft were transforming into flaming wreaks and tumbled to the ground, their pilots ejecting.

"Mayday, mayday…someone help us out!" A C-130 pilot cried for help.

"Galm Two disengage and go to help." Cipher ordered as the two flights shot past each other. Foulke complied and left Cipher to deal with the Belkan MiG-29 fighters who were trying to chase Foulke down. Cipher pulled hard on the flight stick and came about onto the rear of the two MiG's, and a sidewinder shot at the lead fighter discouraged the chase.

"Meteor One, respond!" The last Fulcrum pilot requested as the sidewinder hit the starboard tailpipe of Cipher's target. The mercenary pilot chased the Belkan air defence fighter and shot it down with a few bursts of gunfire.

"Fenrir Three was shot down by a SAM!" Henderson cried.

"Fenrir One, could you hunt down those SAMs in the mountains?" Cipher asked as he sped towards his wingman on full afterburners.

"Already on it." The Ustio pilot replied.

Cipher spied Foulke's red wing amongst a group of Belkan fighters. "Galm One, engaging." He announced as he threw his jet onto the tail of the MiG-29A Fulcrum threatening to shoot down Foulke. A missile and twenty rounds of deadly accurate cannon fire later, the aircraft was spiralling down to the mountains below, spewing flames from its engines. Foulke bagged two more fighters and Cipher finished up the last with a sidewinder shot.

"Nice work Galm Team." Eagle Eye praised. "More fighters incoming."

"Fenrir One to Galm Team." Henderson contacted the mercenary team. "We'll take the north-east group."

"Galm Team roger." Cipher and Foulke banked about to meet the second wave of fighters scrambled too late to stop the landing.

"We can't afford to give up air superiority!" Fenrir Two said.

Cipher locked on to the flight lead of the three plane formation he was engaging. He fired but the MiG-31 interceptor banked away sluggishly, and the projectile trailed off and missed.

"Foxhounds!" Foulke muttered. "Don't let them outrun you."

Cipher banked about, bringing his Eagle onto the tail of the large heavy Belkan fighters. The interceptors pulled away rapidly and Cipher swore as they downed the third 122nd Hercules transport as it tried to escape the combat airspace.

"Get them as they come about!" Foulke said. "We can turn tighter than they can!"

"Roger that." Cipher replied. "Galm Two, use your AMRAAMs."

"I only have two left." Foulke advised.

The Belkan interceptors were banking about in a wide circle. Cipher and Foulke applied their afterburners on full and turned sharper, bringing the back two fighters into sidewinder range. Cipher loosened two such missiles at the two rear aircraft and shot them down. Foulke detached a medium ranged AMRAAM at the last and the two pilots bailed out as the aircraft was struck in the port engine.

"AWACS, any more fighters?" Cipher asked as he slowed his F-15C and turned towards the centre of operational airspace.

"Negative, all enemy forces are down." Eagle Eye said. "The rest is up to the ground forces. Galm Team, return to base."

Cipher and Foulke turned their jets back towards Valais Airbase. Their job here was done. As he flew back silently, Cipher watched the sunset bathe the land in a growing darkness.

"I can see why the place is a popular tourist resort." Foulke said. "The view is fantastic."

"It is." Cipher agreed.

The mercenary pair reached Valais Airbase just before nightfall. Foulke landed first while Cipher circled until the Belkan had taxied off. Then he turned onto finals.

"Galm One, you are cleared to land." The Air Traffic Controller said.

Cipher lowered his landing gear and set his flaps to 'LAND'. Two lines appeared on his HUD, one vertical and one horizontal. He aligned his fighter until the crosses intersected in the centre of his HUD, indicating a perfect glide slope.

"Two miles to touchdown." The ATC said.

Cipher felt a small crosswind shift his aircraft slightly and quickly applied a little yaw to the left to counter.

"One mile to touchdown, slow down. You're coming in too fast."

Cipher applied his airbrake, a large hydraulic flap behind his cockpit. His speed rapidly dropped and he felt the Eagle begin to lose altitude.

"You're on the money." The ATC said, indicating he was all clear.

The rear wheels touched down with a jolt and screech. He quickly applied his wheel brakes as well as his airbrakes, and the nose wheel came into contact with the tarmac soon after. His speed slowed quickly until he stopped on the runway.

"Nicely done Galm One. Taxi to your hanger."

The mercenary parked in front of the hanger. He was then towed into the hanger in front of Foulke by the ground crew, and there he conducted his post flight checks and helped disarm his last AIM-9. Then he proceeded to his debrief.

"Operation Varsity succeeded!" The Lieutenant General was very pleased as the two squadrons entered. "Ground troops are now en route to Solis Ortus. It won't be long now until Ustio is liberated."

As Cipher left the room, the base felt different. The air was still icy cold, enough to force the mercenary to don his jacket and still shiver. The sky was dark, and the lack of clouds allowed him to gaze at the stars…so what was it?

It was only when the pilots of Fenrir passed that he realised.

"What's up buddy?" Foulke asked as he came up behind Cipher.

"The atmosphere." Cipher smiled. "It's better. The guys actually believe they can do this."

It was true. When the mercenaries had arrived, you could've cut the tension with a knife. Everyone had been on edge, ready to retaliate at anyone and anything. Now, it was lighter. Everyone was smiling. He could already hear the chatter and laughter from the bar.

"Our victories have really boosted their morale." Foulke said. He slapped his flight lead on the shoulder. "C'mon. I'll meet you at the bar in twenty minutes."


	6. Liberation

It was no secret that soon, the attack on Directus would take place, the final blow that would signal Ustio's liberation and victory for the Allied forces in the war. The day after the capture of Solis Ortus, the Lieutenant General in charge of planning and briefing the missions ordered all pilots of the 6th Air Division into the briefing room.

"Preparations to liberate Directus are now complete." He said. "I will now brief you on the Ustio 6th Air Division's role in regaining control of the capital."

All the pilots listened eagerly, barely restraining from jumping out to their fighters and taking off there and then. Even Cipher, who was usually relaxed and calm, leaned forward in his chair. As the Intelligence Officer spoke, the briefing map showed the location of Directus along a large meandering river.

"Directus is divided into five administrative wards centring on the River Crescere. Powerful weapons have been placed in each ward, comprising the Belkan army's Ustio-branch headquarters. This battle will determine our fate, as the annihilation of all enemy forces will mean liberation for the nation of Ustio. The enemy forces are primarily comprised of ground troops, but we have received information that, while not yet confirmed, there is also a squadron of hi-tech enemy fighters."

_This should be interesting. _Cipher thought.

"Your orders are to destroy the Belkan forces and liberate Directus." The officer informed. His voice grew serious. "We can't afford to lose."

He dismissed them, and the flight leads had difficulty restraining their flights and making sure that pre-flight checks were conducted. Galm Team were the first up as per usual, with a loadout of four AIM-120 AMRAAMs and six AIM-9 Sidewinders. Fenrir and Lancer's Fighting Falcons had two AIM-9 sidewinder missiles and six AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles while the mighty A-10 attackers had enough bombs and rockets between them to virtually take out every enemy tank in Directus.

Cipher was confident they could do this. The twenty-six aircraft flight turned towards the capital.

The sun was beginning to set as the Ustio 6th Air Division entered Directus airspace. It was about five in the evening, and the sun cast a yellow-orange glow over the city. Here, just outside the occupied capital, the three squadrons split up to achieve their respective objectives. Cipher and Foulke stayed with Hunter to

"Begin operation." AWACS Eagle Eye said. "Release five sectors under Belkan control."

"Cipher, let's do this right." Foulke said. "The battle's going in our favour!"

"Roger that." Cipher replied. "Galm One, engaging enemy fighters." He pulled up as the flights headed towards the first district. A lone Typhoon fighter had caught his interest.

"Hunter One to all Hunter units." The A-10 flight leader said. "Begin your attack run. Let's show the Belkan Army how we roll!"

Cipher noted the change in the Belkan Typhoon's direction towards the A-10 squadron. "Hunter, heads up. You've got fighters incoming."

"Roger that, do your thing Galm Team." Hunter One replied.

"Galm Two, fox two!" Foulke fired a sidewinder at the fourth-generation fighter attempting to engage the ground-attack aircraft they were covering. The Belkan pilot abandoned his attack run to evade the missile. "Missile off target!"

"Galm One, missile launch!" Cipher tried his luck at 'killing' the advanced fighter and succeeded in blowing the delta wing to bits. "Splash one!"

"Good shot Cipher!" Foulke congratulated.

"Look out, more fighters!" Hunter Three informed.

The ten fighters were over the first ward now. Anti-aircraft fire erupted from numerous AA guns and APCs situated in front of halls, banks and small office blocks. Hunter split up and strafed the ground in small bursts of depleted uranium shells. Meanwhile, the mercenary team climbed to meet the incoming fighter.

"Just one?" Cipher questioned as it passed between them at high speed. He and Foulke broke away to dodge a pair of AMRAAMs fired at them.

"Target is one F-15." Foulke reported.

"Negative! This is no Eagle!" Cipher disputed. "It's too manoeuvrable!"

The fighter had pulled round with agility unmatched by anything Cipher had fought. It was already harassing Foulke with gunfire, so Cipher engaged. It had the wings and outline of the Eagle he flew, but it had foreplanes and thrust-vectoring nozzles.

"Do me a favour and miss!" Foulke shouted at the inbound missile fired at him, which complied.

"Radar lock…" Cipher's radar identified the target. But before he could fire, the F-15 STOL/MTD aircraft broke away and attempted to escape the lock. Somehow, the mercenary stayed behind the enemy fighter.

"Guns guns guns." Cipher sprayed ten rounds into the lower fuselage of the Belkan fighter. Another ten shredded the thrust-vectoring nozzles causing the fighter to pummel to the ground, trailing fire and smoke. "Enemy downed."

"Nice kill." Foulke congratulated.

Meanwhile, the A-10 attackers had made short work of the resistance in the first ward. They had formed up and began to move towards the second.

"Hunter One to Galm Team, more fighters up ahead." The flight lead said. "Work your magic."

"Eagle Eye to Galm One, Ustio civilian resistance has been reported within the city, routing their radio communications through your channel." AWACS Eagle Eye said.

"Roger that." Cipher replied as he climbed with Foulke to meet his prey. Two MiG-29 Fulcrum fighters in formation appeared on his HUD, and the mercenary ace switched to his AMRAAMs. "Fox Three!"

"Evade, evade!" The enemy flight lead cried.

The fighters split, but one missile hit its target blowing it to fragments which rained down on the Belkan Army below. Foulke cut across Cipher's flight path to engage the second, causing the flight lead to swear and jink his aircraft to prevent a collision. "Sorry!" Foulke apologised while he shot down the MiG. Cipher growled in reply.

"I thought they were meant to be our best pilots?" A Belkan asked over his radio.

"Air attacks won't help at this point!" Another yelled.

"The Belkans are running!" Someone cried. The civilian resistance. Cipher banked around in a wide circle at ten thousand feet, looking over the vast area covered by the capital. Hunter was making good progress, but he only counted seven Thunderbolts.

"Hunter One, be advised, I only count seven of your aircraft within the vicinity of this ward." Cipher reported.

"Hunter Two was shot down!" A Hunter pilot that Cipher couldn't name said.

The third ward was without doubt the largest of the five wards. Huge skyscrapers and smaller buildings dominated, while smaller houses filled the gaps. Cipher's radar spied out the AA defences situated in between skyscrapers and the mercenary watched as the Thunderbolts recklessly twisted and navigated the maze while shooting up the AA guns and SAM launchers.

"Way to go, Hunter!" An Ustio pilot yelled. "Smashing up the enemy's firepower!"

"Has anyone seen the commander?" A Belkan Army officer asked over the radio, intercepted by Eagle Eye.

"Belkans get out! Get the hell out of our city!" Someone in the resistance below shouted and was picked up by someone's radio.

"You saw the commander over by the helicopter landing pad?" The officer asked a subordinate.

Cipher clocked this bit of information and scanned the ground for a helicopter. Foulke seemed to get the information too as he swept into a steeper bank to look out for it. "Over there!" He suddenly said.

"Where's 'there'?" Cipher rolled his eyes as he rapidly looked for the helicopter.

"The football stadium!" Foulke corrected himself. Sure enough, Cipher spied a Chinook helicopter taking off.

"The Belkan commander is bugging out, looks like they're running scared!" Eagle Eye said happily.

"Galm One engaging!" Cipher banked and dived towards the fleeing helicopter, riddling it with bullets and causing it to spin out of control with fire shooting from its engine outlet and crash into a large skyscraper, causing a spectacular explosion of glass and bits of metal.

"Bandit down, that's a kill for Galm One!" Foulke said.

"Ring the freedom bell louder!" A civilian resistance member cried down a radio. "Make it heard throughout the city!"

Sure enough, Cipher could hear the loud booming ring, even over the rumble of his twin engines and the explosions from below. It seemed to have an effect on the Ustio military, which gained a burst of morale and began to push the Belkan army back further and further from the capital. The Thunderbolts intensified their seemingly suicidal attack runs on the Belkan Army vehicles and AA defences between skyscrapers and down alleys Cipher wouldn't even think of attempting.

"This is Tank Company Three." An Osean unit reported over the radio. "We're trying to advance but enemy fighters are giving us a hard time. Someone take them out for us!"

"Copy that." Foulke replied as Cipher gave him the order to engage. The flight lead continued to fly around the third ward to keep enemy fighters away as his wingman dived to engage an enemy A-10 attacking the tanks on their way to ward four.

"Allied mercenaries?" The unit commander sounded surprised when Foulke shot down the CAS aircraft. "Well, we owe you one. Thanks."

"Enemy resistance is finished in ward three." Hunter One said. "Moving on to ward four."

Cipher clicked the mike to show he understood, and broke away from his vulture-like circling onto a new heading towards the next area, with his wingman on his wing. The precision between the two mercenaries during such manoeuvres was almost good enough to rival a dedicated air display team.

The final two wards were tiny compared to the third, and were close enough for Cipher to consider a single ward. "Two more, two o'clock." Foulke reported the positioning of incoming enemy fighters. "Make that three."

"Seen." Cipher acknowledged the call as he spied the three shapes speeding towards them.

The last remaining Belkan air resistance came in the form of a single F-14 Tomcat fighter and two smaller flanking MiG-29 fighters. As the mercenaries watched, four long range Phoenix missiles dropped from the belly of the Tomcat and shot out towards the Ustio attackers, who broke and popped flares to avoid the incoming projectiles. But three missiles found their target, reducing Hunter to half strength.

"Hunter One's down!"

"Hunter Six, eject!"

"Hunter Four is going down!"

Cipher growled. "Galm Two, engage the Fulcrums. That aluminium cloud is mine!"

Both mercenaries turned to attack. Cipher switched to AMRAAM missiles and fired a single projectile before selecting his sidewinders again. The medium ranged missile succeeded in forcing the Tomcat to break away, allowing Cipher to let off his second short-range missile of the battle. It missed as the F-14 sluggishly rolled away.

"Fox Three…" Foulke reported a missile launch as he engaged his targets.

Cipher went for the simple option. He increased throttle whilst matching the slow rolls and banks of the heavy fighter in his sights, and switched to the 20mm cannon. He loosened a long burst of twenty five rounds towards the enemy, and as anticipated, it was enough to tear one of the variable-geometry wings off. He banked away as the pilots ejected.

"How you doing, Galm Two?" He asked his wingman while he banked back to the borders of the city.

"Both bandits are down." Foulke gave the sitrep.

The mercenaries continued their orbit of the wards, watching the skies as Hunter Squadron, the Allied Forces and the civilian resistance finished off the remaining Belkan Army units.

"All units…" A Belkan commander ordered over the sounds of gunfire and explosions. "Group together and open up an escape route!"

"The Belkan Army…" Cipher heard a lieutenant in the background before the radio cut out. "…we've been defeated?"

"We've got our city back!" A civilian yelled.

Cipher and Foulke banked across the ward and flew high over ward three. Cipher looked across the entire city and wondered what it was like to have a nation to belong to. A capital to be proud of. A flag to fight under.

"Directus is under Allied control!" Eagle Eye congratulated.

"They've got a reason to fight." Foulke said calmly. "This battle's over. Buddy, let's go home."

"Warning!" Eagle Eye said suddenly a few seconds later. "Radar shows two additional craft approaching."

"What, now?!" Foulke asked, confused.

Cipher looked at his radar and sure enough, two blips were approaching at high speed from the east. He turned onto that vector, and Foulke came about under his wing.

"Let's take care of them!" He growled.

Cipher could see the aircraft against the yellow-orange glow of the sunset. They split and banked in a wide parabola to cut across each other's flight path, which reminded Cipher of something he'd see in an airshow.

"They're faster than anything we've come across." Eagle Eye warned. "Commence intercept."

"Looks like they won't let us head back to base until we shoot them down." Foulke muttered.

"Gelb One to Gelb Two, break and engage at will." A calm Belkan said. "You are cleared to engage all aircraft, but priority goes to the mercenaries."

"Roger!" Gelb Two replied.

Cipher switched to his last remaining AMRAAM, but the targets were just out of range. "Foulke, use your AMRAAMs." He ordered.

"Copy that."

Cipher's radar locked on with a high pitched beeping. He fired the missile, but the angle was bad and the enemy interceptor easily dodged it. Foulke's four missiles didn't have any effect either. The two pairs passed at high speed, but Cipher was able to catch a glimpse of the fighters.

They were Sukhoi Su-37 Terminator fighters, the fifth member of the Flanker family and the best air to air fighter around. They were painted in large irregular blocks of green, creamy white and brown, with yellow bands around the wingtips.

"Terminators!" He heard Foulke mutter. "Cipher, expect the unexpected. This kind of enemy makes me nervous."

Both teams turned to get on each other's tail. But the move was easily won by the super-manoeuvrable Belkan aircraft and Cipher found himself diving sharply and popping flares to counter a missile shot. He pulled a sharp turn, startling the Belkan on his six who continued the dive, allowing Cipher to get on his tail.

"Hang in there Galm Two!" He encouraged his wingman.

"I can't shake him!" Cipher could hear the stress in the usually calm Foulke.

Cipher knew he had seconds until the Terminator broke away from him. He let off two sidewinders in close succession followed by a burst of gunfire. The Su-37 twisted, broke the dive sharply and let off flares, avoiding both missiles. But Cipher saw the thin stream of black smoke from where the bullets had found their mark, and the lack of the port elevator.

"I know Cipher and Pixy can get the job done!" Eagle Eye said.

The terminator Cipher was engaged with was trying to get back onto the Ustio mercenary's tail, but wasn't as manoeuvrable as before. Cipher was easily able to block the attempt with a high-g turn, and settle in the enemy's six.

"Fox Two!" The fourth of Cipher's loadout of such missiles streaked towards the Su-37 which tore apart the left stabiliser, the left engine and caused the right engine to spew fire and debris.

"Gelb Two, I'm hit!"

"Eject Gelb Two!" Gelb One advised. "It's sometimes better to admit defeat than trying to win."

The younger wingman complied, and the wreck tumbled to the ground below.

Cipher pulled back up to 10,000 feet and rapidly jerked his head around to search for the enemy fighter chasing his wingman. He reached up and snapped the polarised visor down to shield his eyes from the glaring rays of the dying sun.

"Talk to me Pixy." He asked.

"He's still behind me." Foulke replied, his calm voice returning.

"Where are you?"

"Five thousand feet and diving. I'm over ward three!" Foulke gave his location, his voice strained against high g's.

Cipher turned his jet in that direction, temporarily surprised by how much he had displaced from the area. Within seconds, Foulke and Gelb One appeared on his HUD.

The situation wasn't good. The terminator matched Foulke's every move, and there was nothing the famous mercenary could do to turn the tables. But there was one thing that the Belkan ace hadn't anticipated.

Cipher.

Out of AMRAAMs and with just two Sidewinders left on his wing pylons, he engaged. "Galm One engaging!" he said as he latched onto the rear of the enemy fighter and his radar began to lock a sidewinder onto the thrust-vectoring nozzles. Suddenly, the Su-37 slammed on his airbrakes, pulled his nose up and shot over Cipher's Eagle onto his six.

"Jesus Christ!" Cipher swore as he now jinked hard right to avoid a spray of deadly gunfire.

"Hang tight Cipher!" Foulke urged. "I'm coming around!"

The mercenary ace rolled, dived and pulled sharp turns, but the terminator stayed with him. Cipher felt the adrenaline rising within his body, and grinned. Despite the possibility of a painful fiery death, he was actually beginning to enjoy this. Finally, he had met someone who was almost as good as he. Almost.

"Galm Two Fox Two!"

Torn between abandoning Cipher and being blown to bits, Gelb One took the latter option. However, it was too late. The missile tore straight through the engines and blew up in the centre of the fighter, obliterating the Belkan ace and spreading shards of metal across the sky.

"That's a kill!" Eagle Eye reported.

Cipher and Foulke formed up. Cipher was breathing heavily, and sweat made his hands feel slippery inside his white flight gloves. He opened his visor as the sun dropped below the horizon.

"Galm Team, return to base." Eagle Eye ordered.

Cipher whistled as he slowly banked his jet around to the new heading with Foulke on his wing. "That was some dogfight."

"I tell you what, that was the first time I can remember when I actually thought about where my ejector handle was!" Foulke replied with a laugh.

Cipher's radar picked up the location of the Ustio squadrons, and altered his heading and airspeed to catch up with them. Both squadrons had taken moderate losses, but the excitement and happiness was clear in their voices. Their nation was free.

Ustio was liberated.

* * *

><p><strong>And that concludes Part One of my Ace Combat Zero story. <strong>**Story is continued in Ace Combat Zero: Counterstrike.**


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